Thank you, Chair.
My concerns relate to the comments of Mr. Adler, who said there wasn't a scintilla of truth in what Ms. Nash said about the failure of this to affect the independence of crown corporations.
The Bank of Canada is one of the crown corporations that will be affected by this proposed amendment. It is a cornerstone of Canada's economic system. It troubles me greatly that we have seen no analysis of what the implications would be for such a fundamental change.
Another crown corporation that people in my riding of Victoria care very deeply about is the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Friends of Canadian Broadcasting have had debates. We've had large meetings. The second highest number of letters I've received since becoming a member, after the botch-up of the temporary foreign worker program, has been related to this change. The potential for impact upon the independence of journalism, of journalists, and the CBC is very much a matter for concern.
Mr. Adler said there would be no impact economically. He was talking about their respect for taxpayers' dollars. Let's just talk about the fact that the expert for management, Professor Smith, and Mr. Georgetti, the well-respected Canadian Labour Congress president, testified as to the enormous impact this will have upon the cost of running collective bargaining in this country for all the crown corporations. And let's talk about the legal challenges, which are all but inevitable, and the costs, in those challenges, to defend the indefensible.